Jon - Thank you for the disturbing image of Harry eating Scabbers haha. I agree about Vlad trying to cure his vampirism in canon but! - for all he knows, his magic and vampirism are one and the same and to lose his vampire side would be to lose his magic, and therefore Harry. No, I haven't seen Being Human, I hear its good though. And you do not write drivel, you write reviews that make me smile so shush, I'm the author here so I'm in charge.

If you don't read any of my other stuff, I'll say it again - not for attention, more apology - I've had my medication changed recently and my brain is little more than an empty space filled with soup right now. With any luck this is a temporary side effect!

-YDHP-

After a week of Harry's cold shoulder, Vlad was growing desperate. Stealing into the bathroom that hid the entrance to the chamber, he set up the cauldron and ingredients for a painkilling potion. His hands shook slightly as he measured out the molly, but everything seemed to go together as he stirred over the small flames. He would have to shower as soon as this was done, measuring out into vials and stashing them in his backpack - Bertrand would be able to smell he had been brewing otherwise.

Swallowing one down, Vlad waved a shaking hand to clean up after himself and stole away, barely holding his invisibility spell up to an empty corridor on the seventh floor. The potions only took the edge off, but it was something. Ingrid was the only one he could talk to - Bertrand just insisted he tell Harry and that was not happening. His sister understood though - she was no more likely to admit the truth to her own mate, and with her final blood test approaching Ingrid wouldn't even have to see Bertrand again. The next week passed in a haze of sleeplessness and bitter tasting potions and promising Bertrand he was studying in his common room.

His schoolwork was suffering, and Vlad had muttered something about worrying over his blood test when McGonogall asked. Lupin never called on him in DADA, but he could feel the werewolf eyeing him sat next to Neville and Hermione - Harry now sat with Draco, Seamus and Dean. Rubbing at his tired eyes - he was barely sleeping and running through pepper up too fast now, Vlad stifled a yawn and scribbled more about Grindylows on his parchment. There was a note in the book - known to attack almost any other magical creature, so he had to avoid them. Though as he couldn't really swim, Vlad wasn't too concerned about meeting the water dwellers.

"Mr Dracula, a word if you would?" Vlad hung back, shrugged at his dorm mates questioning looks and waited for the classroom to clear. "What's up professor?" Lupin wouldn't look right at him, as though Vlad was going to attack him before he even had his fangs. "I want you to stay away from Harry. You'll destroy him." Magic burned inside him, rage bubbling alongside it and Vlad barely contained the urge to hurt the werewolf. "You warned him off me, that's why he's being off with me."

The teacher suddenly looked very uncomfortable, almost took a step back. "I... I urged him to consider the danger of being friends with... with your kind." Only the certainty of expulsion and being totally cut off from Harry stopped Vlad pulling his wand, glaring. "And I'm sure you told him you were a werewolf before this cosy warning? Do you have any idea what..." A pulse of pain stopped him dead, clutching at his chest. This appeared to be a dead giveaway - the werewolf knew about vampires then. Well, he was the DADA teacher.

"That's... impossible. Only other vampires..." Vlad growled, instinct to defend the right to call Harry his mate regardless of species. "It's none of your business, but yes. So now you know I really would rather die than ever hurt him, but thank you for the fortnight of agonising rejection. I really needed that. You didn't answer me. Did you tell Harry you're a werewolf?" Lupin shook his head, watching as Vlad pulled out a vial and swallowed it.

"Pain killers?" "I need them. I can't sleep, I can hardly eat. I just worry why Harry seemed to hate me all of a sudden. And it's because of you." The bell rung again, warning them the next class would be along soon. "What are you doing in here zombie snot?" Ingrid looked confused to find Vlad in her classroom, glaring probably out of habit at the teacher. As he felt the potion kick in, Vlad straightened up. "I'll explain later. Diaries at eight?" He mumbled it, ensuring nobody overheard. Ingrid nodded shortly, and Vlad managed to leave the classroom.

If he had told Ingrid, she probably would have cursed Lupin on his behalf. As it stood, she would probably just glare even harder throughout her class. It hadn't been long enough between doses, his brain sluggish as the overdosing started to take hold. Plus he was late for Potions. Making sure the corridors were empty, Vlad ambled over to the portrait shortcut on this floor - a tip from the Weasley twins. "Babbling pot." The woman eternally eating a roast dinner eyed his clammy face, tired frame and swung open muttering "skipping classes" as it closed behind him.

A rat scampered past him, and Vlad felt like it looked familiar, then decided he was too drugged to be coherent - rats all looked fairly similar. "Fortuna Major" by the time Vlad reached the Gryffindor portrait hole, he clearly looked so rough she didn't question him being out of class. "Whoa Vlad, you ok?" Fred and George were in the common room on a free period, chatting to Lee Jordan over a box Vlad expected contained questionable items.

"Yeah, just don't feel great. Gonna go lie down." He stumbled, exhaustion and potion and pain whirling around in his head but made it to the staircase. One of the twins caught him, helped him up the stairs and deposited him on his bed. "You look awful. And that's going some, because you're naturally white as a sheet but damn Vladdo." "Yeah, what have you been doing?" Vlad kicked his shoes off, rolled on his side and attempted to shrug.

"Not been sleeping well. I'll be fine, thanks for helping me up here guys, but I just need to lie down. Close my curtains please?" The twins stood, gripping the bedcurtains. "Sure Vlad." "Let us know if you need anything." Blissful darkness overtook him, taking the strain off one of his senses at least.

A sort of hazy nap later, Vlad woke with a face full of black fur and a paw tapping his cheek. "Phantom, what is it?" She mewled, backing up just enough for him to focus a little. Chest still aching, Vlad checked his watch and figured he was good to take another vial of pain relief. Pushing his tired muscles upright, he sought his backpack and swallowed down the sour liquid. Sighing in relief, Vlad pushed open his curtains and made it to the bathroom.

"Missed you in potions Vlad." His friend looked concerned, and Vlad wasn't surprised - his reflection was a sore viewing. "Neville, I'm sorry. I just had to lie down, think I'm coming down with something." Walking past, Vlad relieved his bladder and stood in front of the sink, trying not to look at the state of himself. It was his own fault really - the more he let himself get close to Harry, the harder the hits from his mate rejecting him would get. It wasn't such an issue for vampire and vampire, as they weren't a close, friendly race as standard.

But his mate was human, and beautiful and brave, courageous and strong and Vlad couldn't help but want to be close to that all the time. He was pathetic, really, but he couldn't help himself - the sound of Harry's voice in the next room made his heart lift, just for a second. Then the crushing sense that his mate was afraid of him reared it's head, clawing at his insides and only a tight grip on the sink kept Vlad on his feet as nausea twisted his stomach.

"Vlad?" Realising Neville was still watching, Vlad unclenched his hands and smiled over at his friend. "I'm good. Just a little sick, I might go get a stomach settling potion from Madam Pomfrey." That was a lie - he had those in his bag, because Harry overate on sweets sometimes and Vlad hated seeing the unhealthy flush in his cheeks from nausea - but there was an hour until his 'diary date' with Ingrid and he couldn't spend it watching Harry fear him, not right now.

The cold weather and darkening sky meant that there was nobody outside - it was curfew for the first and second years anyway, unless they had detention. Which young George Giles was already following her Weasley namesake in - she had two detentions for blowing up cauldrons in potions, a half finished cure for boils ironically causing multiple cases of boils. And then another in Charms, as she had started levitating books and making them swat the other students. Vlad's favourite story was her Astronomy detention, getting caught painting ink on her classmates eyepieces so they would get black rings on their faces when they leant in to the telescopes.

Leant against one of the stone pillars and shivering slightly, the clear night air filling his lungs, Vlad stared over in the direction of the forbidden forest, cast into mild visibility from a light on in Hagrid's window. Tilting his head, Vlad wasn't sure if he was seeing things, but there was something... moving at the edge of the forest. Heart hammering and very aware all sorts of weird, dangerous creatures lived in the forest, he edged closer anyway. Whatever it was shifting noticed him, turning bright eyes in his direction and Vlad caught the shape of a large, hairy body. Not the full moon - not a werewolf.

"Vlad?" Light flooded the space around him as Hagrid's door swung open, and in the brief seconds he had to blink the thing vanished, the tree line clear. "Hey Hagrid." "Whadda yer doin' out alone?" Vlad shrugged, not having the energy for any convincing lie. "Fancied a walk." The gamekeeper shook his shaggy head, closing the door to his hut behind him. "C'mon, I'm walking yer back to the castle. No wanderin' alone with that Sirius Black on th'loose."

The low light available in the dark evening meant Hagrid didn't notice how ill Vlad must look, and Vlad thanked the man and hurried off when they reached the main doors. His rendition of the conversation to Ingrid only raised his sisters ire with the werewolf teacher, but Vlad begged her not to make a fuss out of it - the last thing he needed was anyone wondering why Vlad was so affected by it all. Then Harry might find out. No. He would have to hope either Harry came around on his own, or that Lupin would fix it. It wasn't a hopeful situation.

He couldn't avoid the notice of Bertrand forever - Vlad was certain he reeked of the pain potions in his blood and his eyes looked a little glazed now and then when he dared look in the mirror. Several days after the altercation with Lupin, Harry was still ducking him. Even at night, when Harry's nightmares tugged at the mate bond and woke Vlad from what little sleep he got, Harry had told Vlad to 'leave him be' the one time Vlad had tried to approach the wizard.

A week before Halloween, Vlad couldn't get out of bed. His chest ached, his painkillers and pepper up not even making a dent now and Harry barely looked at him. "If you aren't going to tell him, at least explain to me what has caused this particular spell of rejection. You two have always resolved these issues in a day or two before." Bertrand leant against Harry's bed, moving when Vlad growled weakly and leaning against Draco's bed instead.

"Werewolf. Warned Harry I was dangerous. Don't know what else." The words hurt to push out, each one a huge effort. He wasn't fit to take his blood test now, so he was utterly screwed for the following week - he would only get worse. Bertrand clearly knew Vlad was self-medicating the problem, but handed him a muscle relaxant potion anyway, which did allow him to get a little more comfortable.

"Did he warn Harry he's even more dangerous? Since you're untransformed and he's a bitten?" Vlad chuckled shortly, but there was no humour in it whatsoever. "Of course not. My mate. At risk from me. Not him. Clearly." Vlad coughed slightly, sitting up painfully for a drink of water. Bertrand opened his mouth, then closed it and turned to the door. "Miss Granger, kindly don't loiter in doorways." Heart already racing, it only climbed higher as Vlad panicked about how much Hermione had heard.

"Is it true? Harry's your..." Hermione had heard then. Waiting for the door to be closed behind her, Vlad nodded painfully. "Yeah. He doesn't know. I'm not going to take the choice away from him." Hermione paid no mind to his sweaty skin, sitting next to him on his bed and brushing his damp fringe off his face. "You daft vampire. Explains why you thought it a clever idea to jump in front of those dementors for him. Why's he being so funny with you?" Vlad felt another pulse of pain at the reminder, sighing in relief when Hermione ran a cool cloth over his face.

"Don't know." He wasn't going to continually blame Lupin, Hermione knew enough as it was. "I'll let professor Vector know you're off sick, and I'll help you catch up when you're better. Get some rest." Hermione gave one last sad look at Vlad, then headed out and Bertrand sighed. "She's rather at ease in here." "Hermione is in and out of here all the time." He chuckled shortly, then coughed.

"Get some sleep. I'll be back to check on you at lunch. No more painkillers, you'll overdose and they aren't helping." Glaring as much as he could at his tutor, Vlad laid back down. Drifting somewhat, the next he remembered was Phantom prodding his cheek, and licking sweat from his temple. Then Vlad realised he could smell werewolf, cringing slightly as he opened his eyes and found Lupin stood next to Bertrand. Dislodging Phantom gently, Vlad sat back up with monumental effort and found a potion pushed in his hand by his tutor.

"A one off, energizing elixir. Now no more potions." Swallowing it down, it energised him enough to stand up, wary of turning his back on Lupin but needing the bathroom. Washing the sweat off his face and brushing potion ick from his mouth, Vlad finally felt a little less zombie-fied. "Why is he in here?" "I wanted him to realise what he's doing to a student because of prejudice. If he doesn't realise, I'll report him for inappropriate behaviour towards Harry."

Looking up at Bertrand in surprise, Vlad wasn't sure what he hoped to accomplish but figured he had little to lose now - he wasn't going to get any better without Harry. "I had no idea this was so... potent an effect. Tomorrow is Saturday, I will talk to Harry over our usual tea and chat. So long as you can swear-" "I'll never hurt Harry. I'll die first. Literally." That was a promise ingrained deep in his soul, Vlad didn't want to promise the wolf a damn thing but it could get Harry back in his life, even as a friend. "I'm not even planning to tell him. If Harry ever sees me that way, it'll be his choice."

Lupin surveyed him, searching for a hint of a lie in Vlad's eyes with those strange amber irises of his. "Alright. I'll talk to him, but I won't force him." "Neither would I. Thank you Professor." Even with the elixir, Vlad wasn't fit to do much but lie in bed. Bloxy the kitchen elf brought him a sandwich at dinner, with a wink as she placed a glass of pumpkin juice next to it. "Come visit us when you're better mister Vlad!" she squeaked, before popping out. His plate vanished of it's own accord when he finished his sandwich, and the energising elixir was wearing out by evening.

"How you feeling Vladdy? You still look terrible." "Cheers Seamus." Neville offered Vlad a chocolate frog with a smile, feeding Phantom while Vlad unwrapped it and laughed at the fact he had the wizard card based on his father in it. "Have you seen Madam Pomfrey?" Shaking his head at Neville, Vlad tried to get comfortable while his familiar tried to steal the bedcovers. "Bertrand checked on me, says if I'm not better tomorrow he will drag me to the hospital wing. Hopefully it's just a bug."

Madam Pomfrey couldn't do anything for Vlad, short of mind controlling Harry into coming near Vlad again. Which Ingrid or Bertrand could do if he asked, but it would only prolong his problem, offer a tiny temporary positive effect. The promise of Harry maybe being talked around was enough of a lift to get to breakfast - slowly, painfully, but he made it to the table. Hermione sat next to him, quiet but comforting as she talked lightly about Arithmancy. Cutting a chunk of pancake clumsily, Vlad transferred the syrup-covered slice to his mouth.

"So if you change the numbers here, that's what makes the difference between colours with a colour-change charm?" "Exactly." Hermione smiled, not giving away a thing about his 'problem' with Harry as they looked over her notes from the previous day in the common room. "What are you grown ups doing?" George and Bella popped up next to them, leaning over Hermione's parchment. "Chatting about Arithmancy. This is how you break down charms and spells."

"Cool. What's this bit?" George was instantly intrigued as Hermione explained, and Vlad just let the words wash over him as he waited. He knew it was Harry before the portrait hole opened, forcing himself not to stare desperately at his mate.

"Vlad?" His name in his mates voice never failed to make his heart skip, and Vlad tried not to look pathetic as he looked up. "Can we talk?" Heart hammering so hard against his chest Harry could probably hear it, Vlad noticed the glamour charm on his glasses wasn't exactly the same - not his magic. It was Harry's. There was a story he wanted to hear. "Sure. The dorm?" Harry nodded, turned and led the way. Hermione offered him a supportive smile and kept the first years focused on her parchment, drawing their attention away from Vlad's slow, stumbling gait.

Door closed behind them, Harry shuffled his feet. "So uh, I wanted to say sorry. For how I've been acting with you. I had a freak out, panicked about you know, you being a vampire. But I realised, you've never done anything but try to keep me safe. Unless you've got designs on me being your first meal when you're sixteen that is, I know you won't hurt me." Relief flowing hot through his veins, soothing him, Vlad nodded. "You're right, I would never hurt you."

Harry still smelled like werewolf, but beneath that the scent of mate overwhelmed his senses, slaking the aches inside him as Harry hugged him. "If it makes you feel better, I don't plan on biting anyone. Ever. Promise." The blinding smile of belief made his stomach backflip, and he felt happy for the first time in weeks. Harry wasn't avoiding him anymore - everything else was just details.

-YDHP-

All Vlad chapter but hey, I'm surprised I managed to write this much. Enjoy!